Global Policy Forum

By Lauren Comiteau and Margreet Strijbosch

As the Yugoslav War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague marks its tenth anniversary, it's now a fully functioning court. Ninety-two accused war criminals have been brought before it, 42 of them already tried. Like most national jurisdictions in the world, the Tribunal now has a firm record that spans the legal spectrum - from convictions to acquittals and, most recently, a rising number of guilty pleas. In an international criminal court trying to establish the truth of what happened during the violent break-up of Yugoslavia, the increase in guilty pleas has particular significance - legally, historically, and to the hundreds of thousands of war victims. All the more so, given the highly contentious trial of Yugoslavia's former President, Slobodan Milosevic. In 1993, the Yugoslavia tribunal got off to such a difficult start that people doubted whether anyone would ever be tried before it. There was not enough money, personnel or office space, and the war crimes in Bosnia just continued unabated. In recent years, however, the tribunal has developed into an efficient legal machine with 1300 staff and a 100-million-euro budget. It has completed no fewer than 22 trials; seven convicts have already served their time.

"I'm aware that I cannot bring back the dead, that I cannot mitigate the pain of the families by my confession. But I wish to contribute to the full truth being established about Srebrenica and the victims there." These words of remorse came from Momir Nikolic, once a captain in the Bosnian Serb army and the first Bosnian Serb officer to admit that the 1995 mass murders at Srebrenica were planned. More than 7000 Muslim men and boys were executed in Europe's worst atrocity since World War II. Four men were indicted for the atrocities. Only Nikolic and his colleague Dragan Obrenovic pleaded guilty in exchange for a lighter sentence. "I have now come to the belief and accept the fact that many thousands of innocent people were the victims of an organized, systematic effort to remove Muslims and Croats from the territory claimed by Serbs," Nikolic said.

Big fish guilty plea

Last year, Biljana Plavsic, the former President of the Bosnian Serb Republic, set the tone with her guilty plea before the tribunal. Admitting that the leadership she was a part of encouraged a plan of ethnic cleansing, Mrs Plavsic became the first political leader in the Balkans to accept responsibility for the crimes. Her stunning mea culpa in court helped secure her an 11-year sentence for what was originally a genocide charge. It set an example for other Bosnian Serb suspects. Securing guilty pleas is now part of the prosecution strategy. Graham Blewitt, the Tribunal's deputy prosecutor, says the court-time saved by eliminating trials helps move the Tribunal towards its five-year goal for finishing its work. More importantly, says Mr Blewitt, uncontested acknowledgments of guilt - and the remorse that usually accompanies them - help victims heal and facilitates reconciliation. "If it means important people who were responsible for serious crimes are acknowledging guilt and accepting their responsibility for it, it can only help in region, particularly with all the denial that takes place. But if it also means getting important evidence against those higher up the chain of command, that's something we value very much."

A special case: Slobodan Milosevic

No doubt one of the high-ranking indictees Mr Blewitt is referring to is Slobodan Milosevic, former president of Yugoslavia and the first sitting head of state to be indicted and tried while in office. Mr Milosevic´s attitude hasn't changed one bit since his first court appearance in July, 2001, when he stated defiantly: "I consider this Tribunal false tribunal and the indictments false indictments. It is illegal being not appointed by UN General Assembly, so I have no need to appoint counsel to illegal organ." Mr Milosevic may not recognize the court, but he certainly participates in it. The former Yugoslav leader is his own lawyer, spending his days questioning witnesses, making political speeches and objecting when judges let him. The prosecutors are trying to convict him on 66 counts spanning over a decade for crimes ranging from the shelling of Sarajevo and the massacres at Srebrenica to massive ethnic cleansing in Kosovo.

Long drawn-out trial

In their effort to speed up the almost two-year long trial, judges have imposed strict time limits on prosecutors. But in an effort to protect the self-represented former president's rights, they've given him a lot of leeway. The result is a trial that sees Milosevic questioning prosecution witnesses for far longer than the prosecution, accusing them of lying, and misrepresenting what they say in a way that many legal experts agree would see any normal lawyer held in contempt of court. The upshot is that the trial is now expected to last until at least 2006. But many legal experts say prosecutors are, if slowly, proving what they must prove: that Milosevic was ultimately responsible for the wars that raged in the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s. Many of the people who made up Mr Milosevic's government - and much of the former Bosnian Serb leadership - are now in The Hague. It's a reality that was almost unthinkable when this Tribunal was created ten years ago. But deputy prosecutor Graham Blewitt sees it as a sign of the Tribunal's maturity. He says the full gamut of the legal spectrum now seen here - from convictions, acquittals and guilty pleas to surrenders and arrests - shows an institution that has come of age. "We knew we'd get to this stage. When we started our work, we were no threat to anybody and we were only going to get to what we call the insiders once we became a threat, and we are now a threat to anyone who was responsible for crimes in the former Yugoslavia."

Most-wanted list

There are still many problems. Prosecutors say most of the countries of what was once Yugoslavia still don't cooperate fully, denying their investigators access to important documents. The tribunal's main concern is to complete the trials of another 20 key suspects before 2010 when its mandate expires. Prime among this group of most-wanted are the former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic and his military commander General Ratko Mladic, as well as the former Croat general Ante Gotovina, who is charged with war crimes against Bosnian Serbs in 1995. The prospects for their capture still appear remote. But then again, who could have predicted the Tribunal's impressive track record ten years ago?

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